Felicia Fowler

As a parent of a Penn State student, you come to live for the school as your own children do. It becomes apart of your soul and it defines you in many ways. My daughter is a junior at Main Campus in State College. She has been breathing in the blue and white for three years now, it really has been eight if you count the time she has been apart of THON.

THON is an organization that is totally run by the Penn State students. THON raises money for the Four Diamonds Fund at Hershey Medical Center. The money THON raises helps treat and cure children with Cancer. THON raises millions and millions of dollars every year for those children. I have watched my daughter grow into an amazing young adult. I give a lot of credit to Penn State and to THON for her wonderful gift of caring and empathy.

The recent news stories and charges against Penn State officials and Sandusky has made Penn State students defend the school that they love so much. At first I thought this may be a learning experience for the students that no text book or class could teach them. How to rise above the madness and have pride in the good –while condemning the bad- and be able to define between the two. I tried reassuring my daughter that things would settle down and Penn State would rise again with Honor as the school that it really is. I tried helping her understand and deal with the sadness, anger and confusion she has been feeling since this whole thing started.

It has come to my attention that some of the public as we know them, really doesn’t understand that Sandusky does not define Penn State. That the students at Penn State have done nothing wrong. That THON should not be penalized for something they are not a part of.

I struggled with writing this not wanting to put THON
and Sandusky names in the same editorial, but it can’t be helped. The public needs to understand and realize that Penn State does not equal the officials that run it. Penn State equals the students and the students families.

This weekend was a Canning weekend for THON. Canning is when Penn State students go out and stand (sometimes in blizzards or frigid cold temperatures) to collect money for the Four Diamonds (children with cancer). While these caring and loving students were giving of their own time – they were called names such as “child molesters” and “rapist”. The words “Penn State Sucks” “I am not giving you a dime “was heard by many of these amazing young people. Please understand that while these Penn State students were hearing these terrible words from some of our community, they were dealing with the news of one of their own that was killed in a car accident when the car she was riding in hit black ice on her way to Can for THON for the first time in her young life.

How can we live in a world that is so naive to think that because a few sour apples are in the bin – they whole bin is trash. How can we live in a society who punishes the innocent with the guilty and can’t define between two.

The students at Penn State and their families are sickened by what Sandusky has done and want justice for the victims. We do not support him or the officials involved in any way.

Please tell your neighbors and your friends that Penn State students and THON must not be penalized for the crimes of another.

I say this because after I was informed of what the THON Canners were going through, I realized that some of the public are so ignorant in their thinking that they really believe they are hurting Sandusky with their words and actions – while they are really hurting the innocent students and all the children with Cancer that THON supports. I think the ones I speak of need a lesson from this whole horrendous occurrence. That maybe this terrible incident can’t only be a valuable learning experience for the PENN State students – but also for the public. A terrible thing has occurred and we all understand that-- but please understand this –SANDUSKY DOES NOT DEFINE PENN STATE